The recent application by the inventor, Ser. No. 200,401, of which this application is a continuation-in-part, illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 13, instrumented monorail and walking beam conveyors utilizing fiber optics directed through portions of the conveyor apparatus which could be illuminated on demand in order to provide one or more targets for tracking or homing purposes using robotic or other automation.
Also described in Ser. No. 200,401 are many other novel features of interest. These are:
(a) The general concept of use of such `active` lighting in automation and particularly the use of fibers therefore. PA0 (b) The use of `active detection` wherein the light is directed from the robot into one end of a fiber, and sensed at the opposite end of said fiber. PA0 (c) The use of other materials than fibers, for example, translucent fixtures of teflon or ceramic. PA0 (d) The use of multiple target points on the illuminated piece to be tracked. PA0 (e) The use of blow-offs to keep the targeted fixtures clean. PA0 (f) The use of pulsed or modulated light sources discrimination against background noise. PA0 (g) The use of light sources and electro-optical sensors both located on robot where the light source of the robot is directed to a predicted entrance point of the fiber(s) and the light emanating from the opposite end of the fiber(s) is sensed by the camera of the robot. Two robots for example could be used, one to light the part or fixture, the other to sense it.
In addition, the copending application described how to track conveyors carrying parts and made reference to the tracking the parts themselves.